Before going ahead with that, try playing it stock first and see what you think first. I've got a Pro Junior and all I did was replace the tubes with better quality tubes (NOS, meaning new old stock US and Western European made tubes) of the exact same numbers and it sounded fine. How good anything sounds depends far more on the player than any rig, tube change, etc., and if the player's acoustic tone is weak to begin with, it'll be the same thing with the amplified tone as well.

thanks bob i did that today it sounded great but i also tryed ablues delux 40 watt wow what amp . 25 more watts but same 12 inch speaker and only 10 pounds differnts can sit in any whear with that thanks again bob later tc elliott

i'd really think about that. a single 12 is ok for a small room, with a band that plays lower volumes than most, but if you're with guys who like to crank- which seems to be the norm these days- you may want to consider multiple speaker amp configurations. i've tried a lot of amps of various sizes and configs, the best i've found that i like is my latest, a replica '59 bassman 4x10. this is an amp i'm lucky i could afford at over $1k, but it's worth every penny. stage volume coupled with enough punch from the 4 10's to get it out to the crowd, it was worth every penny! not to mention that with a crystal element mic, it sings like a bird. horn like overtones but with plenty of breakup at low and higher volumes.

this amp weighs about 45 pounds which is a bit hefty, but that's why they make luggage dollies and regular dollies. and wheel sets!

my last "big" amp was a peavey delta blues 210, 2x10" cabinet. i was using a 4x8 cabinet with it, but the bass was getting lost. the 2 10's did pretty well. i had to let it go due to finances, but if i could have i'd have kept it. they go for around $3-400 i think if you can find one. i had a peavey classic 50 some years ago but never really liked it much. ss rectifier, and not a lot you could change to get the volume and punch without feedback.

ha j bone its tc or roadharp i talk to u about your dirty 30 man i went guitar center and played through ablues jr and a blues delux i and every boby at g c was impressed with the delux i played through my green bullet man what a amp i could hang with evrybody at parriot with that amp lol later man e mail me at roadharp53@yahoo.com

is that really a "NEW" pignose? i bought a g40v 10 years or more ago, and it really sucked for harp. i think for much the same reason a single 12 sucks a lot of times, and that's because it won't push enough air to get your sound out. i did tube swaps but didn't try different speakers at all. and to me the amp didn't have the warmth of a fender circuit, maybe that was just me. i've NEVER seen a g40v behind a harp player.

i had allowed myself to be sold without trying it out, and it was a real big disappointment when it came in the mail and i plugged it in. always try an amp out with a mic or two before buying if possible.

The Pignose G40V is really good if you put a little extra into it. The first thing to replace is the crappy speaker. I installed an Eminence 10" Ragin' Cajun, and that did the job.

Next, replace the middle preamp tube with a 12AU7; this lowers the gain to the tone stack and gives a smoother tone...and while you're at it, keep the treble below 2. It gets harsh on top at higher settings. Then get some decent power tubes (I went with Sovteks).

The final touch with mine was a Weber Bean Blocker. That really made it honk. I added an aluminum dust cap to the WBB for cosmetic purposes: see photo.

It's now a good looking, great sounding little amp that can also be used to drive a bigger cab...but I don't play big venues much any more. The biggest will be a local state U production of Big River (music by Roger Miller) but I'll be plugging my Green Bullet into the board.

I also have a Fender Hot Rod Blues Jr NOS with a beam blocker, and it sounds great, too.

The Pignose G40V will encourage you to replace its crappy speaker the first time you crank it, as it will likely either fry or be damaged so it makes unwanted noises. I put a Jensen MOD 10" 70W in mine, and it was a huge improvement.

One other thing is that you need to test the voltage on the tube heaters. Mine came with 7.5V on the heaters (which nominally should be 6.3V.) It's about what you'd expect if they tried to use a power transformer for 100V Japanese house current. I fixed mine by cutting the leads to the heaters and inserting a 5W 1.8 ohm power resistor in each side. (The voltage has to stay balanced on each side, or it'll hum badly.) That dropped the voltage to 6.0V, which is fine. The tubes will last much longer.

I have to second what jbone said. I owned a Blues Jr - I thought it was a lousy harp amp. I had a few others like it, including a Peavey Prowler (single 12", 35W. It sucked too.) I finally learned that "lots of power + single speaker" is a bad equation for harp. These amps are STIFF - even re-tubed. They have a sweet spot where they sound good - but if you play below that you can't be heard and if you push above it they become harsh. And they're not loud enough for typical jams. A few years ago I attended an amp clinic at one of Dave Barrett's Harmonica Masterclass seminars, hosted by Gary Onofrio, AKA Sonny Jr. They had 10 or more amps on stage, and Gary demo'd all of them, including connecting the head from one to the cab of another. To my ear, without exception the single biggest variable was speaker configuration, and the amps with 4x10's sounded the best.

My gig rig is a Sonny Jr. 4x10, and it is capable of hanging with the big boys when it comes to volume, but it has tone no matter whether I'm playing a soft single note passage in a slow blues solo, or screaming a 2/3 bent draw.

Looking back, I realize I had no idea what I was looking for in an amp at first. I was seduced by the NAME "Fender" and the NAME "Blues Jr." I now wish I had saved my money and gone straight to a good, known harp amp. If you want great tone out of a small amp, go with LOW power and all tubes. The Kalamazoo's I sell have the best tone of any small harp amp I know. Great for practice, great for rehearsal, great for recording. But unless you mic them they aren't gonna cut it for anything but a very low volume gig.

If this economy stays weak, there should be good buys out there on used/vintage tube amps. I've played through 15-20 watt single or twin speaker amps that were loud enough to cut through stage mix and had good enough tone....old Ampegs, etc. can be found and may be available back down in that $250-$300 range if the market keeps slidin'. The 4x10s are great, but you gotta lug 'em too.

I own a Fender Blues Deluxe, and it works great for guitar, but I can't get a decent harp tone out of it to save my life. I'm of the opinion that can't get a good harp tone out of speakers bigger than 10 inches. But that's just me. If you look at the boutique harp amps, they all seem to have the small speakers.

jbone1 wrote:...and to me the amp didn't have the warmth of a fender circuit, maybe that was just me.

It's actually a Marshall circuit, almost identical to the JCM 800 2204 "Super Lead Fifty." Of course, that's a derivative of the old Bassman. When you add a gain stage (and use a higher gain tube in it to boot), it's not going to sound the same. And a single 10" speaker isn't going to sound the same as a 4x12 cab.

I have a Hot Rod Blues Jr NOS with the lacquered tweed and Jensen speaker, and it is really good if you crank it up a little, but I haven't used it for harp yet. I changed out the stock reverb pan for a Ruby Reverb and installed a Weber Beam Blocker, and it sounds excellent with my ES-335.

I still like the Pig, which has a "honk" to it that improves the harp; the BJ is voiced better for guitar, in my opinion.